


A String of Beads

by IncomingAlbatross



Series: Jack O'Neill's Multiple-Choice Past [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Daniel is still the Guy Who Knows Everything, Friendship, Gen, Loyalty, Surprise Demigod Crossover, people talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 15:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13662120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncomingAlbatross/pseuds/IncomingAlbatross
Summary: Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't find the archaeological report that got sent to you by mistake. I found this, though." He hooked one finger into the drawer and pulled out an old cord necklace, strung with painted clay beads."Oh, yeah, that." Jack held out a hand for it, then stretched it out so that he could see all the beads clearly. He smiled reminiscently. "It's from a summer camp I went to when I was a kid."(A normal day at Cheyenne Mountain leads to a slightly less normal conversation; or, the one where Jack's been dealing with mythology-induced headaches since long before he joined the military.)





	A String of Beads

**Author's Note:**

> First in a series of Jack O'Neill's many possible backstories (with each one involving a different crossover, if all goes as planned).
> 
> It should be accessible without any knowledge of Percy Jackson, but I can't say the same with regards to Stargate. So, if you clicked on this without any knowledge of Stargate - first of all, thanks! Secondly, here's all you need to know:
> 
> The main characters are the premier team of a secret US military operation, formed to fight a race of ancient aliens who've spent thousands of years pretending to be pagan gods and ruling over a galaxy full of abducted humans and their descendants. Jack is a snarky 40-something Air Force colonel, Daniel is a more quietly snarky 30-something archaeologist/anthropologist/linguist/genius, and their other two teammates are also important but don't appear in this fic. (Teal'c isn't even mentioned, mainly because he's kind of an alien.) Also, please be aware that all of this takes place in the late 90s/early 00s, definitely before any of the events of the books.

"Huh."

 

 

Jack O'Neill turned, to find Daniel looking thoughtfully into one of Jack's desk drawers.

 

"What? You find that . . . whatever it was . . . you were looking for?"

 

Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't find the archaeological report that got sent to you by mistake. I found this, though." He hooked one finger into the drawer and pulled out an old cord necklace, strung with painted clay beads.

 

"Oh, yeah, that." Jack held out a hand for it, then stretched it out so that he could see all the beads clearly. He smiled reminiscently. "It's from a summer camp I went to when I was a kid. Turns out Siler went there too - small world, huh?"

 

Daniel's brow furrowed for a moment. "Siler? Really?" He shrugged. "Huh."

 

"What, never figured him for the summer camp type? I mean, I figure he was a little younger when he went."

 

"No, no, it's just . . . I didn't figure him for that  _particular_ summer camp."

 

Jack looked sharply at him. He'd never see Daniel show any _obvious_  signs of divine ancestry, but if he knew about Camp Half-Blood. . . "Daniel? Something you'd like to share with the class?"

 

But he shook his head, smiling. "Not what you're thinking, probably. I mean, I never went there myself, but . . . I've met quite a few people who have."

 

"Oh." Jack had to admit, that made more sense with what he knew of Daniel's parents. You know - both present in his childhood, both clearly mortal, and apparently pretty happy with each other. But still. . . He cocked his head. "Uh, how'd you get into  _that_ crowd?"

 

"Well," Daniel said, obviously suppressing a smile, "despite the glasses, I have . . . really good vision, in some respects. And I've always been observant."

 

It took Jack a minute to run that through his (unfortunately kind of rusty) demigod-doublespeak translator, but when he had, he found his forehead hitting his palm almost involuntarily. "Daniel," he groaned. "You can't. . ."

 

"See through the Mist?" Daniel finished brightly. "As a matter of fact, Jack, I can."

 

Of  _course_ he could. If anyone could see through the veil that kept the world of the gods separate from mortal lives (and Jack _had_ heard that a few mortals could), it would be Daniel, wouldn't it?

 

But,  _gods_. "How did you survive to adulthood?" he said into his wrist (his hand was still on his forehead).

 

Then something else occurred to him, and he straightened up. "And is this, like, inherited?"

 

Daniel shrugged, grimacing. "Maybe? I mean, my parents knew enough to tell me not to talk about some of the things I saw, but maybe they just thought I had an overwhelming imagination and didn't want me freaking people out. I know Nick doesn't have it - I checked, believe me - but otherwise. . ." He shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine."

 

Jack frowned, and decided it was time to change the subject. Sitting on the corner of his desk, he asked, "So how'd you actually find out about the camp?"

 

Daniel snorted. "I saw a  _lot_ of weird things growing up, Jack. Especially since I lived in New York. And when you stumble on enough monster battles, eventually you piece together enough to make someone sit down and explain the rest to you." Then he grinned. "Especially if you happen to be a mythology geek."

 

". . .Yeah," Jack said thoughtfully. "You probably knew more than most of the demigods you ran into."

 

"Well - yes and no." Daniel laughed. "There was a _lot_ to assimilate, and I got thrown into the middle of things fairly often. There were some . . . interesting . . . misunderstandings in the early days, especially."

 

Jack grimaced. "Do I want to know?" He could just picture the problems an ignorant kid could get into with that kind of ability. And when that kid was _Daniel,_  you could probably multiply what he was picturing times ten.

 

"Oh, I've got some good stories." Daniel was grinning, but then his expression sobered. "It didn't make life easy, I admit, and I ended up distancing myself from . . . that world . . . sometime in college, just to try and get on with a normal life."

 

"That worked well."

 

Daniel gave Jack an flat, unimpressed look, which he returned innocently.

 

"I noticed, _thanks_. But yeah, I mostly walked away from that world years ago, and I don't regret it . . . but I don't regret being in it, either." His gaze turned distant. "I mean, I learned so much that I'd never have had a clue about otherwise. It was . . . amazing."

 

Jack nodded, but didn't say anything. Daniel sounded like he was deep in his own head.

 

He shook himself out of it, though, with a reminiscent smile. "Even now, I like to keep an eye out for necklaces from the camp." He grinned. "It's also interesting, in the absence of monsters, to guess who around me might be a half-blood _without_  a necklace - especially since I came here. I mean, you've noticed how many the SGC has, right?"

 

Jack gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I've recognized a few," he drawled.

 

"It's not surprising, I suppose," Daniel mused. "That we'd attract heroes, I mean. I've wondered if Sam might be one - I'd guess her as Athena's child, possibly Hephaestus' - and I've been pretty sure about you for a while. I didn't pick up on Siler, though."

 

"He's a Hephaestus kid, actually," Jack said. "And I don't know about Carter for sure, but you're probably right. I'd say Athena's more likely than Hephaestus."

 

"You'd know better than me," Daniel said. He made an incredulous face. "And isn't _that_  a weird thing to say to you when we're talking about gods."

 

"Honestly, I never paid too much attention to all that mythology stuff. I just knew the people I hung out with." Jack grimaced. "And the ones I had to fight. But the nice thing about those is that you don't have to remember them after you kill 'em."

 

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I bet you got along _great_ with the kids from Athena's cabin."

 

Jack shrugged, swinging his necklace back and forth. Daniel watched for a moment.

 

"Speaking of which," he said, absently. "That's . . . a lot of beads there. Don't most people end up with five or six? How many do you have?"

 

"Eleven," Jack said easily.

 

Daniel blinked. "Wow."

 

"Yeah, the monsters got after me when I was pretty young. My father'd warned my mom that might happen, though, so she knew where to send me. I started camp when I was seven."

 

"Yikes," Daniel said, looking moderately disturbed. Honestly, Jack didn't blame him, though at least a demigod seven-year-old was better able to handle these things than a fully human one would be.

 

"So, what, you went until you started the Academy?"

 

"Pretty much, yeah. Sometimes I stayed for the school year, too, but not so much as I got older."

 

There'd been that one year when he turned sixteen, in particular, and ditched camp _and_  school in favor of being an out-of-control "teenage rebel." Lucky for him Chiron had gotten worried when he didn't show, and sent out some satyrs. They'd dragged him back to camp before the end of the summer, and he'd gotten a few stern lectures about what being a hero really meant.

 

"Hey, you want to see some of my beads?" he asked brightly, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

 

Daniel gave him a look which meant he _knew_  there was more he hadn't said, but was choosing to let it go. "Sure, yeah."

 

Jack dropped them into his hands, and Daniel began turning them over. "So, which cabin were you from, Jack?" he asked without looking up.

 

"Ahh . . . Hermes," Jack admitted. "Traveler's cabin. I was never officially claimed."

 

Daniel looked up then, shocked and disapproving. "Why not?  I mean, if you'd been fighting off monsters since you were _seven,_  they could hardly say you hadn't done anything worth recognizing." He paused, processing Jack's words further. "Wait a second. Never _officially c_ laimed?"

 

Jack hesitated.

 

He'd never told anyone this, never even said it out loud for fear someone would end up hearing it who shouldn't have. On the other hand . . . Daniel wasn't even really part of the half-blood world. It wouldn't be such a big deal to him as it was to them, and he'd hardly go telling anyone who might have a link to the gods.

 

On the _other_  other hand, this was a really, really big secret. See above, the whole "never told anyone" bit.

 

But . . . this was _Daniel._

 

But. . .

 

He sighed. "I can't say anything clear," he said, making up his mind, "'cause, well, using names tends to get their attention." He nodded upward. "But I did find out who my dad was. He told me in a dream - I mean, I'd had a hunch for a while, but he gave me proof."

 

"He told you in a dream," Daniel repeated carefully, brows knit as he tried to piece the information together. "So it wasn't that he didn't want you to know, it was just that the _rest_ of the world couldn't know. . ."

 

He looked back at Jack, one eyebrow cocked. "Jack?"

 

". . .Daniel?" He looked very confident, Jack thought. He hadn't expected him to guess on so little information, though.

 

"Would this have something to do with . . . a certain agreement that was made in the 1940s?"

 

Dang. He _had_ guessed. "You know about that?" (He should have expected it, really.)

 

Daniel nodded. "I asked a lot of questions, about all the cabins," he said. "It came up."

 

Okay, yeah. Jack guessed that the fact that the three most powerful gods had been bound to stop having mortal children, _period_ , would come up pretty quickly.

 

"I also asked about what . . . certain campers . . . might be like, if they took possession of their cabins."

 

Jack sighed. "Let me guess, you've already pinned down _exactly_ who my father is."

 

"Well, the whole 'non-recognition' part narrows down my options, you have to admit," Daniel said. "You don't exactly give off the doom-and-gloom I'd expect of one of them, either - and you're _Air Force_ , not a Marine, that says something else." He shrugged. "But honestly? The one I'm thinking of was always my first guess for you. I knew it was unlikely, but. . ."

 

Jack stared at him. "Daniel."

 

"Jack."

 

" _That_  was really your first guess? The one that was _actually impossible_ , because he's not allowed to have kids. The. . ." He was going to say  _King of the Gods -_ though  _Lord of the Sky_ would also have worked _-_ but he suddenly didn't want to skate too close to the no-names rule.He settled for a jagged upward gesture. _"_ Hewas your _first_ guess?"

 

Daniel looked amused. "Jack, it's pretty obvious, really."

 

"Oh, yeah, that's why everybody's spotted it so easily before."

 

Daniel shrugged. "It's entirely possible someone _has_  spotted it before, and just doesn't want to rock the boat," he pointed out. "And of course I don't have the same built-in assumptions about what is and isn't possible in the half-blood world. But, really, Jack. There's the Air Force, the astronomy, the leadership qualities - and those are comparatively superficial. Just look at the things you've done, here, the position you hold--"

 

"Daniel," Jack broke in, pointing a thumb upward. "King of the gods?" Whatever. Somebody was going to have to say it, might as well be him.

 

"Jack," Daniel said evenly, meeting his eyes. "Freer of the galaxy?"

 

And Jack finally understood what he was saying.

 

Not because he agreed with Daniel's point, but because his eyes held something he _had_ to take seriously. Something . . . something he'd very rarely seen before. It was a look absolutely certain that he was worthy to be Zeus's child, that he couldn't possibly be mistaken for anyone less.

 

Daniel's eyes held _belief_  in him, pure and simple. Belief that was always there, he knew, but just now stripped of any concealment or reservation.

 

And for a second, seeing that look, Jack thought he knew how the gods must feel.

 

He looked down, clearing his throat. "Um. Okay. Uh . . . thanks."

 

"There's not a soul on this base that wouldn't agree with me, you know," Daniel said quietly.

 

Well. That was a little much for a guy who'd grown up in the "unclaimed" cabin, trying to keep his head down so the Big Three wouldn't start fighting over him.

 

Before he had to answer, though, the warning blare of the Gate alarm cut through the room.

_"Unscheduled offworld activation. Repeat, unscheduled offworld activation!"_

 

He and Daniel both jumped up.

 

"Guess we'd better check that out," Jack said, grabbing the beads back from Daniel, to drop them into one of his safest pockets.

 

"Yep," Daniel agreed, jumping up at the same time as him.

 

As they jogged down the hallway toward the Gate Room, Daniel grinned at him.

 

"Hey, maybe if we're lucky, we'll take down some more gods today."

 

Jack shoved at him. " _False_ gods," he reminded him.

 

Daniel nodded, solemnly. " _Dead_  false gods."

 

"Now you're talkin'."

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for any PJO mistakes - it's been a while since I read the books, but I think everything here fits well enough. Also, Daniel's Mist-penetrating vision means he is _absolutely_ aware of the Romans, Norse, Egyptians, and whatever the heck else is out there, but he doesn't usually talk to any of the different groups about any of the others. (And he's been explicitly sworn to secrecy on the whole Greek-Roman thing, which is the one he was most likely to talk about.)
> 
> Fun fact: the original version of this had Daniel inheriting a camp necklace from one of his parents, and encountering the demigod world that way. I still like that version, but then I thought of the whole "seeing through the Mist" thing and it just . . . seemed so _Daniel_ , somehow, I had to make the change.


End file.
